Recently, rumors about the Chinese men's football team's naturalized Congolese striker Oscar have intensified, but the reality is quite helpless. Despite Oscar's five-year stint in Chinese football, the Chinese Super League giants have shown little interest in naturalizing him, which hides complex financial and cost-effective considerations.
Oscar's performance on the field is obvious to all, and he has also expressed his willingness to play for the Chinese team. However, the financial woes of the Cangzhou Lions made the road to naturalization extremely difficult. Naturalizing the Oscars requires a significant expense, which is undoubtedly a heavy burden for the Cangzhou Lions, who are in poor financial condition. Therefore, they can only hope that the Chinese Super League giants will help.
But the reality is cruel, and after weighing the pros and cons, the Chinese Super League giants generally believe that Oscar is not the most cost-effective choice. According to the regulations of the Chinese Football Association, the annual salary of naturalized players is comparable to that of foreign aid, and Oscar's annual salary requirement is at least 3 million euros, plus an additional placement fee, which is undoubtedly a huge expense for the Chinese Super League teams that have generally reduced their expenses today.
What's more, with the same budget, the team can find stronger and more experienced foreign players. Therefore, even if Oscar has the possibility of naturalization, it is difficult to realize this plan under real financial pressures.
At the moment, there are very few teams that can afford to naturalize Oscar, and their recruitment strategy is also skewed towards players who are more cost-effective. This is similar to the failure of the national football team's naturalization of Teixeira four years ago, and the high cost of naturalization has discouraged many potential buyers.
To naturalize foreign aid, money is the key. Without adequate financial support, the naturalization program can only be a dead letter. Therefore, Oscar is likely to repeat Teixeira's "tragedy" and will not be able to play for the Chinese men's football team. In the face of this reality, we can only hope that more cost-effective foreign aid will appear in the future to inject new vitality into Chinese football.